World Change-Personal Narrative

    Entering the soil slice of the biosphere pie in the form of dead organic matter, I stay underground for millions of years. Multitudes of layers of soil pile upon me, resulting in me becoming buried deep and undergoing intense pressure. Just when it’s starting to get unbearable, I condense into coal. I’m now a fossil fuel, so I enter the lithosphere.

Coal: A Human History was written by Barbara Freese to focus on the history of coal and how mankind has used it as part of their lifestyle. Ever since the times when early nomads used the slash-and-burn method, coal has been around acting as jewelry for the Romans and as fuel for peasants and the noble class in Britain. Coal was in such high demand that many inventions were utilized for the convenience of retrieving it from intolerable conditions such as vacuums and the construction of more efficient underground tunnels. The book gives insight of how this small stone has been so vital to humans that they were able to adapt to the ways coal best functions.

They are alive poems” (15-16). The plants and animals have evolved and developed to fill specific roles and niches on the earth. People should not just use the plants and animals without regard for their place on the earth; instead, people should study the plants and the animals, learn from them, and in exchange, protect them from misuse, over-use, or destruction. This is important because “all is in motion, is growing, is you” (23), the speaker tells the listener. If the listener cannot learn from the plants and the animals, cannot protect the earth, or cannot relate to her fellow human, the fragile relationship between the environment and humanity is disrupted, and the growing stops. Without the growth, humanity will soon cease to be, because that growth is what makes humanity what it is, it is what provides the catalyst for people to think, to speak, to advance.

Being a fossil fuel is extremely boring. With millions of years of sitting in one place you get board. Finally, i wake up to being shipped off to the navajo generating plant. A couple days into being there i get to the furnace, and get burned. Now i'm co2 in the atmosphere, again.

After discovering this book through my AP Environmental Science class and my AP United States History class, I chose to read Silent Spring by Rachel Carson. I have a strong passion for science. With that being said, I also have a yearning to develop a connection to the outside world. It seems that in today’s society, many individuals are ignorant to how the world functions and how living and nonliving organisms interact. However, it is not entirely these individuals’ fault. In fact, many people are not aware of how we, as a species, are able coexist in a world of many different beings—both abiotic and biotic. Therefore, in order to combat the status quo of subjective norms, I have read Silent Spring.

I was in the lithosphere-fossil fuel as coal for another couple millions of years. I was coal at the Kayenta Mine. I was sat with more coal and sparkly jewels that no one actually needed. They needed me, they wanted me, I was a precious source of energy, and that was what I was used for. They mined me and burned me to produce power. Once again I was CO2 and I was off to the

As a young child, I was always on the edge–the edge of the forbidden forest that cast my backyard in shadow, the edge of the high-rising countertop that threatened to falter my steps, and the edge of the North American continent on the old dusty map spread across my bedroom floor. I was adventurous; I loved to seek all that was unknown in the environment by which I was surrounded. The curiosity within me has bloomed as the years have come to pass; it has taken me to places I had once dreamed of and has been my guide through the inception of discovering the veins of glorious life that pump restlessly through the world and me. This yearning for sagacious knowledge has fueled my desire to follow along a scientific path; with that said, my professional goal is to negate the mundane and explore the world (and preserve its beauty) through work as an environmental

Coal: A Human History was written by Barbara Freese to focus on the history of coal and how mankind has used it as part of their lifestyle. Ever since the times when early nomads used the slash-and-burn method, coal has been around acting as jewelry for the Romans and as fuel for peasants and the noble class in Britain. Coal was in such high demand that many inventions were utilized for the convenience of retrieving it from intolerable conditions such as vacuums and the construction of more efficient underground tunnels. The book gives insight of how this small stone has been so vital to humans that they were able to adapt to the ways coal best functions.

Years of looking at a tree and seeing a photosynthesizing plant and returning to our air-conditioned homes, has lead us to feeling that we are separate, even fundamentally different from our natural landscapes. When taking the chance to consider Maine as more then a place, to consider it a her, then the once 2-dimensional landscape becomes three dimensional as all the systems and processes of ecosystems also act as the organs of a human would. Trees center this landscape for Maine by working as her physical and spiritual heart, acting as the connection between all of the natural non-living systems, and the rest of the body. That remaining piece of the body being the humans in the landscape, the arbiter of action for the entire entity. As this concept expands, it encompasses all parts of our world, and placing us humans at the head of an evolving story. One that only we can control, and one that will decide whether Maine, as well as our planet will continue living with a beating heart or will slowly wither

The sound of the chirping birds awoke me. The smell of the grassy-smelling rain tickled my nose as I pried my heavy eyes open, tired from yesterday’s long day of adventuring. I squirmed out of my cozy sleeping bag, being gentle on my sore back after sleeping on the diamond-hard rock last night. I crawled out of my little compact tent as my stomach growled of hunger. I looked out to the foggy distance where the egg yolk-like sun was rising from behind the bumpy, tree-filled mountains. I gathered my hiking essentials and munched on a protein bar as I started exploring on the wet, slippery trail. Suddenly, I heard a footstep behind me. I turned around, but nothing in particular was there. I kept strolling along, observing the many species wandering

“The End of Nature,” by Bill McKibben is a startling book of non-fiction depicting the future in store for the environment and humans. His somber yet hopeful approach allows readers to sense the real intensity of this situation of mass environmental changes whilst remaining expectant of the advancements in the

The author’s purpose was meant to encourage the people around the world to respect their environment. Our environment can be amazing to explore and traverse, however it is important that we “Kill nothing but time.”, as the author

A photograph of Earth reveals a great deal, but it does not convey the complexity of our environment. Our environment (a term that comes from the French environner, “to surround”) is more than water, land, and air; it is the sum total of our surroundings. It includes all of the biotic factors, or living things, with which we interact. It also includes the abiotic factors, or nonliving things, with which we interact. Our environment includes the continents, oceans, clouds, and ice caps you can see in the photo of Earth from space, as well as the animals, plants, forests, and farms that comprise the landscapes around us. In a more inclusive sense, it also encompasses our built

In today’s society fossil fuels are the primary source of energy for most of the industrialized world. Utilizing fossil fuels has been very important to the industrialization development throughout the world. Industrialization in many parts of the world, energy has been needed at a much higher density then before and fossil fuels have fulfilled that need. Coal, gas, and oil are the three major sources of fossil fuels in the world. Despite other means of energy such as wind power, hydroelectric power etc., fossil fuels are still the main source of energy across the continent. Fossils fuels are critical to the function of society. “Fossil fuels (oil, coal, and natural gas) are the dominant source of energy today and will be for decades to come.” (Everett, B. October).

It’s sad and lamentable what we have to see and hear about the damage of our planet. How Mother Nature is decaying in her environment and shows sense